today! a great, unusual offering from suntharaphon bandleader saman kanchanaphalin. while most famous for the many big band pop tunes he's written for various jazz-age bangkok balladeers, we've also heard saman playing a selection of classical tunes on the marimba. on this cassette it's something like a reversal on that theme, with the music accompaniment shifted to a classical instrumentation, and the song selection more modern. enjoy!

wow! sorry for such a delay, i've been quite wrapped up in other things. anyhow, we're back this week with mr. sathit thongchan! a member of the late khamkoeng thongchan's thongchan promotions, famous for his trademark dark sunglasses (adopted after this album, unfortunately).. according to luk thung historian jenpop jobkrabuanwan, the reason for them is that his eyes are too sweet and he wanted to be judged by his singing, not his visage. in fact, he's famous neither for his looks or his remarkable singing, but the unique expressiveness of his voice on its own.. in an interview, he says the glasses are for when he goes home to work in the ricefields! enjoy!

i was saddened to hear the news of molam khen dalao's recent passing, at the age of 84. hailing from ubon ratchathani province in the northeast, khen was a giant of isan music and named a national artist of thailand in 2000. showing musical inclination from childhood, he first began formal training in liké and puppet theatre at the age of 16, as well as informal instruction from his older brother in composing lam klon¹. often called a 'natural genius' for his lack of formal study, khen was considered a master of klon, and was beloved by audiences for his brilliant lyrical improvisations and off-colour humor, which he often performed in duet with chawiwan damnoen or his wife, bunpheng phaiphiwchai. on this cassette, however, it's only the man & his mokhaen. enjoy once more, the beautiful music and memories of molam khen dalao!

this week, we've got a wonderful tape of classics from the thai canon performed in mahori style! mahori refers to an ensemble configuration mixing string instruments with gong and mallet percussion. like so many recordings of thai classical music this cassette came with artists uncredited, but luckily my friend the ongkha phayop was able to identify the orchestra, including famous players such as ms. rati wisetsurakan on the chakhe (plucked zither) and ms. chaluai chiyachan on the so u (bowed string). beautiful music.. enjoy!!

i hope everyone will forgive the long absence.. i've been in the middle of another transcontinental move! i figure after such a break i'd better come back with something big; so today we'll hear from the incredible female-fronted shan rock group, naang naang. i don't know anything about the composition or history of the group, other than that they're from burma/myanmar's shan state, which shares a long and porous border with northern thailand. i also know that they have one of the heaviest guitars in the golden triangle! i got a lot of questions about this band after i played the lead track here on gary sullivan's awesome radio show, so this cassette should make a few people pretty happy.. enjoy!!

today we'll hear some fantastic northeastern grooves from the sanguan sin band! the xylophone-like pong lang, thought to derive from a signal instrument used by rice farmers, was adapted for ensemble by national artist plueang chairatsami. the sanguan sin group comprises a typical isan big band; drums, cymbals, phin, khaen, electric bass and of course, the featured instrument. another awesome dense and energetic tape of pong lang music.. enjoy!!

this week, a fantastic offering from the mighty waiphot phetsuphan! a national artist and luk thung boss nonpareil, waiphot has been a staple of the thai country music scene for half a century. born into a musical family from central thailand's suphanburi province, waiphot was trained from a toddler's age in a range of local styles. at 14 he joined a local liké theatre troupe, and at 16 won his first song contest. he was discovered shortly after by singer chaichana bunnachot, who introduced him to samniang muangthong, leader of the ruam daokrachai band. waiphot's powerful voice and spiritual focus have made him one of the most enduring and omnipresent characters of thai popular music. this tape alone should put to rest any doubts of his deserving such a post. enjoy!!

we're back this week with some islamic power pop! i don't have many facts about mr. bashir, but both his style and the fact that i got the tape from yanavy sound makes me think he's part of bangkok's arab-malay cohort.. not to mention that he shares a surname with sobahfrom baby arabia. this cassette is a collection of his greatest hits (side 1 sung in malay, side 2 in thai) which i would imagine were current to the late 80s/early 90s, going by the dangdut-inflected guitar/keyboard licks and drum machine action. enjoy!!

this week, some excellent old-style kantruem music from surin! while the dominant image of kantruem is the modern brand of produced pop-style material, there's a older living form (tang doem) that's often overlooked. the melody is carried by the fiddle here, too, but the rhythm section is all drums & cymbals, with male & female singers trading khmer-language vocals. the extremely generic name apparently given for this ensemble makes me think it's more likely that the folks at ligo just couldn't be bothered with discographical details. whoever these folks are, though, they've got their stuff together.. enjoy!

once more, the queen of luk thung, ms. phumphuang duangchan! from her early days as "namphueng mueangsuphan" in waiphot phetsuphan's band to her tragic death at 31, phumphuang helped revitalize luk thung in the 1980s and redefine notions of stardom in thailand. the songs on today's cassette are not among her most well-known, but there are still some great moments. enjoy!

it's the sixth month of the year, the beginning of thailand's rainy period, so let's start it with rungphet laemsing's timeless song of the season! a native of phetchaburi province, rungphet got his start singing the songs of khamron sambunnanon while studying to be a combat medic. in 1961, as a royal guard stationed in bangkok, he fell in with phayong mukda's group, before defecting to samniang muangthong's ruam daokrachai band a year later. he became a personal favorite of legendary songwriter phaibun butkhan, who even set him up for a spot on the silver screen. when rungphet skipped his first movie shoot, however, phaibun lost face and broke off all relations with the singer, effectively ending his career. though his stardom may have been cut short, we still have these beautiful recordings from back in his prime. enjoy!

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

this week's post comes courtesy of the wonderful folks at the cambodian vintage music archive! they collect & share songs from the "golden era" of khmer popular music (1950s-1970s), across a number of online platforms.. follow their facebook page for all their latest uploads

today's post highlights a rare & beautiful collaboration; the 1971 khmer-thai film snaeh chlong vaeha / rak kham khop fa. directed by thai national artist s. asanachinda for asia films, it starred sombat methani & aranya namwong of thailand with their cambodian counterparts chea yuthon & dy saveth in a tale of star-cross'd lovers. the soundtrack, although bilingual, was sung entirely by cambodian singers; leading lady dy saveth took a turn on vocals, as well as legendary stars sinn sisamouth & ros sereysothea. this 45 features the former two in a duet over the title theme, first in khmer then in thai.

the rocket festivals are on in northeast thailand & laos! annual merit-making events on the cusp of monsoon season, bun bang fai most typically involve launching massive pvc pipes loaded with gunpowder into the sky, with judges awarding points based on distance and vapour trails. music & dancing are of course integral to the celebrations, and to this effect we have today's tape from phin maestro a. num phuthai. 2 cassette sides worth of non-stop (brek taek or "brake failure") jamming, with characteristic rocket sound effects for added atmosphere. enjoy!

this week, mr. chaloemphon malakham & the sound of the 80s northeast! chaloemphon is from surin province in south isan, and like many modern stars, he made his way to the stage through local singing contests. he recorded his first album in 1985 and quickly became a top singer of the molam-influenced luk thung that still dominates thai radio today. in addition to his solo work and string of duets with phimpha phonsiri, chaloemphon is also a noted songwriter for the likes of poifai malaiphon & other stars from the siang isan band. at just over 50 years of age he still puts on a great live show, and if you're in bangkok tomorrow night be sure to catch him at the isan lam sing bar in ramkhamhaeng! enjoy!!

back this week after holiday travels, we've got a great old tape of big band instrumentals! from what i can piece together about their history, the sri krung brass were established by narot thawonbut in 1935 as the house band for sri krung sound film studio to provide incidental music to the films the studio produced. when public relations dept. band veteran saman kanchanaphalin took the helm decades later, the group became an outlet for his experiments in "modified thai classical music". on this cassette, however, what you have is your favorite thai pop melodies and percussive, folk-style talung numbers filtered through a herb albert sort of vibe. pretty nice stuff, enjoy!

this week, another excellent early cassette from ms. phimpha phonsiri! phimpha, from chaiyaphum province, was one of the first big successes in blending luk thung and molam together with a modern electro-pop sound. chirping synthesizers, funky bass lines, distorted guitar riffs and our star's youthful voice; there's a lot to like on here. this is her third album, featuring once again the capable songwriting talents of soraphet phinyo to back her up. don't miss her equally great volumes one or four, either!

this week, a sampling of national artist chinnakon krailat's brilliant career! dr. chinnakon's work was some of the most successful blending of pop music with influences from thailand's broad variety of folk & art musics. after starting out as a ramwong singer in his home province of sukhothai, chinnakon was picked up by "modernized music" impresario phayong mukda, with whom he made his most famous recordings. this tape has some great, dance-able drum & organ driven numbers, but my favorite is the beautiful "yo yot phra lo" with its piphat orchestra backing. enjoy!

this week a classic from south isan.. sgt. khong michai & rock khong khoi! recording for pairot sound out of surin, the group was second only to the legendary darkie in the kantruem rock scene, selling over a million tapes along the thai-cambodia border. this cassette, their 1993 debut, introduced a blend of khmer lyrics, local pop rhythms & international rock sounds that set a precedent for a string of famous isan rock combos (rock ah yah, rock sadoet, etc.)¹. while any number of members have come & gone, khong still performs as rock khong khoi solo, with e.v.s. music & their lam sing rock isan band. enjoy!

this week, some great early lam sing from sangwannoi & phatchari! there's not much info about our singers online, but it seems like they started their partnership around 1993, recording for the fanastic ratchabut stereo label out of ubon ratchathani. the timeline's not exactly clear, but i'm guessing they were in the first wave of lam sing, the quick-moving style which combined local molam's khaen & vocal performance with an international rock-combo backing. this is a great old recording, lots of energy and improvisation. enjoy!

re-upload by request: northern-style disco from khana mai sak! this band was the project of kitcha manophet, brother of the biggest name in lanna pop music, jaran manophet. jaran's music had an acoustic, american folk revival sort of sound, while kitcha & his band drew more from disco & funk music. it's interesting to hear jaran's minimal, nostalgic ballads transposed to such a rhythmic setting, complete with bass octave grooves and some ghostly synth organ. the second side of the tape features the same instrumentals with vocals handed over to khana nok lae, a kids' chorus who actually got quite popular in the mid 80s. enjoy!

with the buddhist holiday of makha bucha coming up tomorrow, it seems like a great time to share some religious tunes.. and who better to sing them than ms. khwanchit siprachan? famous for her mastery in a range of central thai folk styles, this tape finds khwanchit pairing up with the late, brilliant phon phirom as songwriter to bring us a series of multi-part lae on the topic of the five precepts (no killing, no stealing, no sexual misconduct, no lying and no liquor!) as well as a few exhortations to merit-making and a pair of parade songs to round things out. a few other singers make appearances on here, but i couldn't find any clues to their identities.. if you know, tell us! otherwise just enjoy!

happy lunar new year! in celebration, here's some "modern chinese music" from thailand! to be honest, i'm not 100% sure that this cassette is actually by singapore's the stylers, but i'm reasonably certain; it was part of a series in which every other volume is credited to them, so i'm just deducing. plus it sounds like them! with a mix of chinese instruments (erhu, yangqin, various flutes) and "modern" elements like electric guitar and synthesizer, the band runs through a set of instrumentals in typical stylers' style. the animal noises on the first track are especially pertinent, this being the year of the horse! enjoy it!!

this week, pop songs of religious devotion from thailand's dhammakaya movement! the buddhist sect has been controversial, among both local religious authorities and international observers, regularly earning comparisons to the likes of scientology (comparisons which probably aren't hindered by their massive u.f.o.-looking temple in pathum thani, pictured above). they were recently in the headlines again, following a report they issued on the state of steve jobs' immortal soul in the buddhist afterlife. dhammakaya has it's strongest following among the affluent in thailand, including new age maven and green music/little bird records founder chamrat sewataphon, who leads the efforts on this cassette. enjoy!

this week, some late-80s molam pop from hongyok wilaiwan! i see cassettes by ms. hongyok around pretty frequently, but finding information about her is another matter. i can tell you the producer here was none other than achan khamkoeng thongchan, and though this 1988 effort is a lesser known entry in the catalog, it's definitely got the thongchan promotions' sound; heavy bass grooves, live instrumentation with synth flourishes. always solid.. enjoy!

this week, another old comedy album! [disclaimer: the primary draw here is in the wordplay, so enjoyment may be limited for non-thai speakers] there's practically no info about this group online, but i'm thinking they were affiliated with legendary comedian thep pho'ngam (recently in the news for his public retirement & possible expatriation to laos¹), seeing as their stage names are pho'ngoen, pho'thong, pho'kaew and pho'khwan (plus si mok). the first side of this cassette features a half hour of "modern" liké, featuring a sholay-sampling ok khaek. the second side has some mock football commentary, followed by a medley of novelty songs. enjoy!

enchanting songs of thailand

a collection of great music made by the people of thailand; luk thung, luk krung, molam, regional folk styles & more. mostly recorded from tape, sound quality should be pretty good (unless stated otherwise). transliteration is done using the royal thai general system of transcription. feedback/re-upload requests/etc. always appreciated!